Columbia University - Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

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REMEY TYs GEORGE ODOM JOHN HENRY JOSEPH HAGEN Vice-Preridenl Prefideizf Secretary T1'eafzz1'e1' HISTORY CF THE CLASS GF 1930 PRES:-:MAN YEAR RIDE goeth before a fall, and prep school seniors enter college as freshmen. In September, 1926, another group of yearlings entered into the Columbia fold. Groups of waiting Sophomores pounced on every Frosh on his way to his first class. The captured ones were borne to South Field and there were submitted to certain indignities. It was literally a Frosh Welcome, and it did the new men good. When the Sophomores had tired of their fun and had left the harassed Freshmen alone on South Field, the latter realized they were all of one body. The Class of 1950 had come into eixstence. With black caps on the top of their heads and green cards prominent in their jackets, these yearling soon learned the meaning of the word humility. But the abrasions which accompanied that lesson were more than made up for by the feeling of pride they experienced whenever the cry '30 this way! was heard on the campus. The holding of the Song Fest brought the men of 1930 out to the South Field stands in a body. Under the guidance of the vigilant Sophomores, they went through the college songs and cheers until the latter were satisfied with their knowledge. Some unfortunate Freshmen, however, displayed an ignorance of songs that brought them swift punishment. Any Frosh discovered looking nonchalant or merely mouthing the words he should have been singing was escorted from the stands by the Sophomores and was liberally daubed with shoe blacking. At the conclusion of the last song, white tags were distributed to those men who had successfully passed the test, and the Black Avengers walked through the Campus seeking yearlings without these symbols. An opportunity was given the Class of 1950 to avenge its past indignities with the annual Frosh-Soph tug-of-war. As usual, the Freshman outnumbered the Sophomores. Those few of the latter who showed up and dared the prowess of 1930 were soon pulled through the stream of cold water which marked defeat. Not content with the success, the Frosh picked up the hawser and paraded around the Campus with it in a dance of victory. Rushing came in November and brought with it a new, exaggerated impression of the importance of the Freshman. For a brief ten days the Class of 1930 was king of the campus. Dances, dinners, and theatre parties were showered on its members without stint. On the tenth day the fraternity bids were given our, and a new flock of shiny pins

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SENIOR CLASS

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were seen in the lapels of many yearlings. Of the erasing of that sense of importance little need be saidg those same men who had been feted to distraction suddenly became the meekest on the Campus. At the call for candidates for the cane spree team, a large number of men turned out. After a period of several weeks' training, the 1930 entrants surprised the College in the sprees held before Christmas by annexing four of the seven canes. This victory over the Sophomores entitled the Frosh to the privilege of smoking their class pipes on the Campus after Washington's Birthday, a boon of which many availed themselves. Student Board deemed the Class of 1930 capable of caring for itself in the Spring semester and opened the polls for class elections. The results of these elections showed that Edward Joyce had been elected presidentg joseph Hagen, vice-president, Elbert Twaddell, secretary, and William Blaisdell, treasurer. Under its own leadership the Class of 1930 entered the Dinner Week contest with determination to win. With the Dinner and Vigilance Committees functioning per- fectly, they held an undisturbed and excellently managed dinner at the Hotel Shelburne in Coney Island. One hundred and fifty men sat down at the banquet, which was unmarred by the presence of Sophomores, with the exception of the two who were held as captives for the occasion. Although the yearlings were unable to reach the Sophomore dinner in time to break it up, they won an informal victory through having more men attend their own affair and escaping without being molested. Toward the end of the Spring semester elections were held once again, this time for the officers of the Sophomore Class. james Campbell was chosen to head the class in the following year, with Charles Harris as vice-president, while Elbert Twaddell and William Blaisdell were re-elected secretary and treasurer, respectively. Final examinations brought to a close the days in which the Class of 1950 were known as Freshmen and in which they had to wear the black cap and green card. With the passage of the year went the assumption of humility, the experience of Hell Week, the mingled emotions of being introduced to the wiles of the Apollo Burlesque chorus. The summer vacation was filled with expectations of a new, greater year, and the wisdom of Contemporary Civilization crammed into Freshmen heads was already passing. SOPHOMORE YEAR Summer vacation lasts only four months, but sometimes it has the effect of that number of years. Certainly the class which had won the Dinner Week contest of the preceding semester with such enthusiasm did not return to College as the immature Freshmen they were when they left it in May. The disappearance of the Freshman cap produced a marked change, instead of plunging madly into inter-class activities the men of 1930 held aloof. The era of 'lnon-collegiatenessn and half formality continued. The opening day of the academic year came and went unmarked. The traditional welcome to the new class of Freshmen seemed to have passed into the limbo. When, before the start of classes that morning, a group of forewarned Frosh gathered around the sun dial prepared for the worst, they were permitted to remain there unmolested. Student Board had decreed the death of Freshman hazing. Besides, 9 o'clock classes had become unpopular with the Class of 1930, whose members certainly would not disturb themselves for a crowd of mere Frosh. But with the renewed participation of the Sophomore Class in college activities, that attitude soon passed. Fo'otball practice had already started when the class returned to Morningside Heights. Malcolm Bleeker, Remey Tys, Bill Buser, and james Campbell were already figuring in the headlines of the metropolitan papers. Track and the minor sports drew in their share of Sophomoresg and soon, with men out for managerial positions, the